Adjustable support means for sliding flush doors



Feb. 3, 1970 T. z. HERR ADJUSTABLE SUPPORT MEANS FOR SLIDING FLUSH DOORS Filed Feb. 2s, 1967 ..11 2:25. .se mw 1n xl Ii l "2 r mlm" United States Patent Olhce 3,492,687- Patented Feb. 3, 1970 3,492,687 ADJUSTABLE SUPPORT MEANS FOR SLIDING FLUSH DOORS Theodore Z. Herr, 672 Hyacinth Place, Highland Park, Ill. 60035 Filed Feb. 23, 1967, Ser. No. 617,914 Int. Cl. Ed 13/02; E06b 11/00 U.S. Cl. 16-105 12 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE rl`his invention relates to an adjustable support means for a sliding flush door for a railway car. The door is mounted for longitudinal movement on tracks secured to the side wall of the car, and the invention is directed in particular to a mechanism for adjusting the vertical height of the door with respect to the tracks to assure proper alignment of the door within the opening in the car.

Openings in the sides of a boxcar or refrigerator car are normally enclosed by sliding ilush doors which slide in tracks mounted on the sides of the car below and above the door opening. After being moved to a position in alignment with the opening, the door is moved laterally into the opening so that the inner surface of the door is substantially ilush with the inner surface of the car. The door is then locked in this position. To provide both longitudinal sliding and lateral movement for the door, the upper and lower ends of the door are pivotally connected to crank arms which carry roller assemblies that ride in the tracks mounted on the car. The crank arms at the upper and lower edges of the door are normally mounted in vertical alignment. and are connected to an operating mechanism located on the outside of the door. As the location of the lower track with respect to the opening in the car may vary slightly from car-to-car, and may vary in angular relationship to the door posts, it is desirable to have a provision for vertically adjusting the position of the door with respect to the track so that the door can be properly aligned within the opening in the car.

Patent 2,816,317 discloses a type of vertical adjustment for adjusting the height of the door with respect to the roller supporting track. The adjusting mechanism of the type disclosed in Patent 2,816,317 includes a spindle which is freely slidable within a socket in the roller carriage and the upper end of the spindle is threaded within an opening in the crank arm. An adjusting mechanism of this type has disadvantages in that under impact, the spindle can be jarred out of the socket in the roller carriage with the result that the crank arm will be disengaged from the roller assembly. As a further disadvantage, the socket in the roller carriage of the structure shown in patent 2,816,317 tends to `collect moisture and foreign material with the result that the rotational connection between the spindle and the socket in the roller carriage may jam or bind.

The present invention is directed to an improved mechanism for adjusting the vertical position of a sliding flush door with relation to the guide track. More specifically, a pin is journalled within a bore in the end of the crank arm which carries the door, and the lower end of the pin is threaded within a socket in the roller carriage. The pin is provided with a central opening and the lower end of the pin is formed with a conical or tapered recess which communicates with the central opening. In addition to the conical recess, the lower end of the pin is provided with a series of longitudinal slits which extend from the threaded periphery of the pin to the conical recess and the slits divide the lower end of the pin into a series of segments. Freely mounted within the central opening is a stud and the lower end of the stud receives a conical nut located within the conical recess in the pin. By turning the stud in one direction, the threaded stud will be drawn upwardly within the conical recess in the pin to expand the segments outwardly and bind the threaded connection between the pin and the roller carriage which will prevent unthreading of the members.

When it is desired to adjust the relative height of the crank arm and door with respect to the roller carriage and track, the stud is turned to loosen the conical nut which releases the binding force on the threads. The pin can then be rotated relative to the carriage to adjust the height of the crank arm with respect to the roller carriage. When the desired position is achieved, the stud is turned which draws the nut upwardly within the conical opening to bind the threads and provide a positive connection between the members.

The invention provides a convenient and inexpensive mechanism for adjusting the relative vertical position between the crank arm which carries the door, and the roller carriage which rides on the track on the car. The adjustment can be made with the use of two wrenches and the members to be engaged by the wrenches are in an accessible location so that the adjustment can be made without the removal or disassembly of any parts.

With the structure of the invention, the roller carriage will not become disengaged from the crank arms even if the door is subjected to heavy impact.

As a further advantage, the rotational connection between the members is provided by the upper end of the pin which is freely journalled within the bore in the crank arm, and this journalling structure is entirely separate from the locking mechanism so that there is no stress applied to the locking mechanism by pivotal movement of the crank arms.

The structure of the invention also eliminates the possibility of water and foreign material collecting in the rotatable connection between the pin and the crank arm, thereby reducing corrosion of the bearing surfaces and minimizing maintenance of the unit.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the course of the following description.

The drawings illustrate the best mode presently contemplated of carrying out the invention.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a sliding flush door for a railway car embodying the mechanism of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical section showing the connection of the crank arm to the roller carriage; and

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the details of the door supporting and adjusting mechanism.

The drawings illustrate a railway car 1, such as a boxcar, refrigerator car or grain car, having an opening in the side kwall which is adapted to be closed by a sliding ilush door 2.

The door 2 is mounted for sliding movement along the wall of the car 1 on a lower guide track 3, which is secured to the wall of the car beneath the opening by a bracket 4. A pair of roller assemblies 5 are adapted to ride on the track 3, and each roller assembly is pivotally connected to one end of a crank arm 6, while the opposite end of each crank arm is connected to a vertical rod 7.

To guide the upper edge of the door in sliding movement, upper crank arms 8 are connected to the upper ends of rods 7 and each crank arm 8 carries a roller 9 that rides along an upper track 10 secured to the side wall of car 1 above the door opening.

The rods 7 are journalled for rotation lwithin mounting bracket assemblies 11 secured to the outer surface of the door 2, and by rotating rods 7 through an operating 3 mechanism similar to that disclosed in the copending application of the same inventor entitled Door Operating and Locking Mechanism, Ser. No. 616,221, led Feb. 15, 1967, the crank arms 6 and 8 will pivot to move the door 2 laterally inward and outward of the opening in the car wall.

Each of the roller assemblies includes a pair of longitudinally aligned rollers 12, each of which is mounted on a shaft 13 journalled within the side walls 14 of roller carriage 15. As best shown iu FIG. 2, the periphery of each roller 12 is provided with a generally V-shaped groove 16 which is adapted to engage the central ridge 17 of the track 3.

To prevent the roller carriage from jumping the track, the track 3 is provided with a longitudinal groove 18 which faces toward the car 1. A lip 19 secured to the inner side wall of carriage 15 is received Iwithin the groove 18 and the lip 19 prevents upward displacement of the roller carriage 15 from the track 3.

The central portion of the carriage 15 denes an internally threaded hub or socket 20 and the lower end of a pin 21 is threaded within the socket 20, while the upper end of the pin is journalled within an opening or bore in the outer end of the crank arm 6. Formed centrally on the pin 21 is a shoulder 22, and a supporting washer 23 and an anti-friction thrust washer are mounted on the shoulder 22 and serve to support the crank arm 6 in pivotal movement.

The pin 21 is retained within the bore in the crank arm 6 by a snap ring 26 which is received `within a peripheral groove in the pin.

The upper end 27 of the pin 21 is provided with a square head, hwich is adapted to be engaged by a Wrench.

The lower end of pin 21 is formed with a generally frusto-conical recess 28 which has a larger diameter at its lower end and tapers to a smaller diameter at its upper end. In addition to the recess 28, the lower end of the pin 21 is provided with a series of longitudinally extending slots 29 that extend from the threaded periphery of the pin to the recess 28. Located axially of the pin 21 is a bore 30 Iwhich communicates with the frusto-conical recess 28. A stud 31 is received within the central bore 30 and the head 32 of the stud bears against the upper end 27 of the pin, while the lower end of the stud is threadedly engaged with a generally frusto-conical nut 33 located within the recess 28. Nut 33 is provided with a pair of wings 34 that extend radially outward and are located within opposed slots 29 in pin 21 to prevent rotation of the nut 33 Iwith respect to the pin 21.

The slots 29 divide the lower end of the pin 21 into a series of segments 35, and as the stud 31 is turned in a direction to draw the nut 33 upwardly within the recess 28, the wedging action of the nut within the frusto-conical recess forces the segments 35 outwardly to bind the threaded connection between the pin 21 and the socket 20 of the roller carriage. Binding of the threads will thereby prevent relative rotation between the pin 21 and the roller carriage 15.

To adjust the vertical position of the crank arm 6 with respect to the roller carriage 15, the head 32 of the stud is engaged with a wrench and rotated in a direction to loosen the nut 33. Loosening of the nut releases the binding force on the threaded connection between pin 21 and socket 20. With the thread binding released, upper end 27 of the pin 21 can be engaged by a second wrench and by rotating the pin, the pin and crank arm can be moved vertically with respect to the carriage 15. When the crank arm is located at the desired position, the stud 31 is turned in a direction to draw the nut 33 upwardly within the recess 28 and thereby force the segments 35 outwardly to bind the threaded connection between the pin 21 and the socket 20. Binding of the threads will retain the crank arm 6 at the desired vertical position with respect to the carriage 15 and track 3.

The present invention provides a simple and inexpen- 4 sive structure for adjusting the relative vertical position between the sliding door and the guide track. The adjustment can be readily accomplished with the use of only two wrenches and without the removal or disassembly of any elements of the door supporting structure.

The crank arm 6 is freely journalled around the upper end of the pin '21 and this rotational connection is arranged so that moisture and other foreign material will not accumulate between the bearing surfaces, and thus co-rrosion of the bearing surfaces is minimized.

Various modes of carrying out the invention are contemplated as being within the scope of the following claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which is regarded as the invention.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for supporting a sliding door for lateral and longitudinal movement on a track, comprising guide means disposed to ride on said track, said guide means having an opening therein and having an internal thread lbordering said opening, a crank arm operably connected to the door and having a bore therein, a connecting member having a first end portion journalled within said bore, said connecting member including a second end portion having an external thread engaged with said internal thread, and thread binding means engageable with at least one of said threads for selectively varying the radial dimension of the thread to bind the connection between said threads.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the thread on said rst end of the member has at least one discontinuity and said thread-binding means acts to expand said discontinuity to thereby bind said threaded connection.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the second end of said pin has at least one longitudinally Vextending slot providing a discontinuity in said thread, and said threadbinding means includes a manually engageable element located at said first end of said member and said threadbinding means acts to expand said slot to bind said threaded connection.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the recess in said track faces said wall.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein one of the side surfaces of the track has a longitudinally extending recess, and said guide means includes a section extending downwardly and terminating in a laterally extending lip disposed within said recess, engagement of said lip with said recess preventing displacement of the guide means from the track.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the track has an inverted V-shaped guide surface and said roller is provided with a circumferential V-shape groove to receive said guide surface of the track.

7. An apparatus for supporting a sliding door for lateral and longitudinal movement on a track, comprising guide means disposed to ride on said track and having a threaded socket, a crank arm operably connected to the door and having a bore therein, a pin having its upper end journalled within said bore and having its lower end threadedly engaged with said socket, said pin having a longitudinal passage and the lower end of the pin being provided with a tapered recess communicating with said passage, the lower end of said pin having at least yone longitudinal slot extending radially from the threaded periphery of said pin to said recess, an elongated member disposed within said passage and having a threaded lower end, and a nut threadedly engaged with the lower end of the elongated member and disposed within said recess, said nut having a tapered surface to complement the tapered recess, rotation of said elongated member in one direction causing said nut to be drawn within said recess to expand said slot and thereby bind the threaded connection between said pin and said opening.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, in which the lower end of the pin is provided With a plurality of longitudinal slots which divide the lower end of the pin into a series of circumferentially disposed segments.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, in which said guide means comprises a carriage having spaced side walls and a pair of longitudinally aligned rollers journalled between said side walls, said threaded socket being disposed in said carriage and located between said rollers.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, and including means for preventing relative rotation between said nut and said pin.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, in which said means for preventing relative rotation comprises a projection extending outwardly from said nut and disposed within the slot in said pin.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, in which said recess is generally frusto-conical in shape with the lower end of the recess having a greater diameter than the upper end References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,055,420 9/1962 DelFaro et al. 16-96 XR 482,530 9/ 1892 Schrefer 16-107 XR 2,816,317 12/1957 Madland 16-105 BOBBY R. GAY, Primary Examiner ANDREW M. CALVERT, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 49-156 

